Three Louisiana fishing holes make Bassmaster's Top 100 list

Toledo Bend, the Red River and Venice get the honors for 2014

Bobby Burnette landed this 12.71-pound monster in February near the Indian Mounds at Toledo Bend, which ranked 15th in Bassmaster Magazine's Top 100 bass-fishing destinations in the country.

Photo courtesy of Toledo Town and Tackle

Each year the folks at Bassmaster Magazine rank the Top 100 bass-fishing destinations in the country, and this year three Louisiana waters made the cut.

Not surprisingly, Toledo Bend leads the Louisiana entries. Bassmaster tagged it as the No. 15 choice, which reflected a five-spot fall from 2013’s list.

“… (Y)ou’d better have a double-digit bass if you want to win big-bass honors (a 12.86 was landed here in February),” the editors wrote. “For fun fishing, this lake can’t be beat (as long as you stay in the boat lanes to avoid hitting one of the 13 million stumps that litter this bass haven).”

The Red River made a strong move up the list, jumping from No. 79 in 2013 to No. 25 this year.

“A shallow-water fisherman’s dream: a million stumps and as many largemouth,” Bassmaster explained.

The Mississippi River Delta (Venice for most of us locals) came in at No. 74, a huge fall from last year’s 59th position. And it fell even further from the 2012 ranking of No. 27.

“If you can find the right water, largemouth here are fat and plentiful,” editors wrote. “In the meantime, catch redfish until your arms are sore.”